Students will be receiving a letter if they have 4 or more unexcused tardies, or two or more blocks of unexcused absences. It will explain how many of each and how much time they owe to make up for the time missed.
Students may have had time from last semester unserved or detention time a teacher assigned and they didn't serve (among other disciplinary things) tacked on and a total time the student owes in on the letter.
If a student has 3 or less hours to serve they may use detention after school in 1/2 hour increments, serve time in Saturday school or serve time doing community service. Dates for Saturday school or community service are provided on the letter as well as a space for alternative ideas from parents and/or students.
There is a process for appealing unexcused absences in the Student-Parent Handbook. We currently have two people working on absences and tardies and all parent calls and notes have been taken into account. Some days, changes from a teacher's original entry, takes the full day if not into a second. This can be confusing if you're checking online through the parent access link because your student's record can change.
Students who come in late, or without an excuse are unexcused. If a student sleeps in and a parent calls to tell us they'll be late doesn't excuse the student. We want that call, but the absence is still unexcused. Students who leave the building without signing out of the office are absent unexcused.
There are dozens of examples of unexcused absences. The state excuses only a handful of things (suspensions, college visits and field trips) for compulsory attendance tracking, and our school excuses some more (illness or injury, family trauma, health appointments, prior approval of vacation or work, verified emergencies, religious services).
Generally things that are communicated ahead of time are excused.
If you have any questions please call the office. Otherwise, ask your student if they received a letter Thursday or Friday.
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